Smart was asked whether the change in offensive line coaches may have contributed to the run-blocking problems, because of an adjustment in schemes.

“What went on last year?” Smart responded.

In terms of run blocking?

“Yeah,” Smart said.

Not as good as they would’ve liked, probably, the reporter replied.

“Same way we feel,” Smart said, alluding to this year’s staff. “So I mean, to me that’s the biggest difference, is they’ve changed the coaches but a lot of the personnel’s the same on the offensive line. And you’ve got to do a great job of getting those guys better, and you’ve got to get them stronger in the year. We’ve got to become a physical football team that runs the ball.”

Georgia has three returning starters on the line: center Brandon Kublanow, left guard Isaiah Wynn and right tackle Greg Pyke (who was at right guard last year.) Rhode Island transfer Tyler Catalina has started the first three games at left tackle, with redshirt sophomore Lamont Gaillard at right guard.

Another reporter asked Smart if he had thought about experimenting with the lineup, and shuffling some players to different spots, or giving different players an opportunity.

“What are you suggesting?” Smart replied.

The reporter replied that he wasn’t suggesting anything, but that Wynn had played left tackle.

“Move Isaiah (to tackle), move Catalina in?” Smart said.

No, just any general thought to shuffling the lineup, the reporter responded, or perhaps Wynn to left tackle, Catalina to right tackle. (The implication being Pyke could then move back to right guard.)

“Because we didn’t practice that in camp, and try that already,” Smart said. “You know, we’ve looked at every combination we can, and we’ll continue to do that. Those guys practice when y’all aren’t there, besides the 12 minutes you are there (for the media viewing period). They do those things, and we look at them. And we go against the defense. We go against (defensive linemen) Trenton (Thompson) and (John Atkins). Then we go over and do one-on-one pass rush when you guys aren’t there. And they pass (protection). And Isaiah does tackle and different guys play guard. At then at the end of the week we say ‘what’s our best lineup?’”

Smart paused for a beat.

“I hope that answers your question,” he added.

The Coke bottle couldn’t have done any better.

Georgia RB Nick Chubb was hit in the backfield on 12 of his 19 rush attempts (63.2%) vs Missouri

Let me see if I have this straight. Kirby Smart limits reporters’ access to practice, and then he ridicules them for asking questions while making it plain that they shouldn’t dare to ask such questions because they haven’t see what goes on in practice. I suppose he thinks that’s clever?

I don’t so much mind that he holds practices that are, for all intents and purposes, closed to the media. That’s fine. That’s his right, and I actually think it is probably a prudent thing to do. But don’t be a dick and rub a reporter’s nose in it.

It would be in Kirby’s best interest not to bully the reporters who cover the team he coaches this early in his career, particularly given that those reporters’ job is basically to serve as a proxy for the fans who fund the program. (Aside: while alienating those reporters, he’s also cut down fans’ access to the program — e.g., eliminating Picture Day and drastically cutting back on what used to be public speaking engagements.)

Once he’s won a championship or two, maybe he’ll have earned the right to shut out the fanbase and the media. But right now, all he’s doing is shortening his own leash by preemptively exhausting some of the goodwill he’s afforded as a rookie head coach.

To be fair, the guy asked him if he’d thought about mixing it up at all or trying different combinations…it is a pretty dumb question when all through camp they talked about how they were trying different combinations at different positions to get the best five on the field.

I don’t see the issue with the smartass answer to a pretty dumb question.

I rarely read or enjoy an AJC sports article but by your view I’m guessing Chip and the gang should just go into work and type a heading for the paper that says…”We have no questions or anything to report about Georgia football because all has pretty much been covered and we don’t want to bother Kirby”. I wonder how long they keep their jobs…I would hate to be a journalist. Like being a coach, you can’t please anyone.

I honestly didn’t think his ‘testiness’ was that bad at all. Heck, I witness or am exposed to worse weekly in my corporate sphere. With that said, I could see why some of you would be bothered by it — I guess it just depends on what you’re accustomed to.

To be fair, my critique was very specific. In general, I’m a fan of those who don’t suffer fools. But the notion that he would limit access to practice and then ridicule a reporter for daring to ask a question (without having seen what goes on in practice) is cheesy.

And to be clear, I’m not “anti-Kirby”. I think he was probably a good hire, and I certainly hope he does well. I’m just commenting on some of his rough edges.

’27 never had less than 100 before Smart got here’…well, that’s just not true (even if you don’t count the UT game). It happened the first five games of his career. If you want to get into how he was splitting time with Gurley/Michel and not the marquee back, fine, but even looking at averages, against UT in 2014, he had 11 carries for 32 yards with a long of 9. Against Bama last year, take away the one 83 yarder when the game was 38-3 late in the 3rd, and he had 19 carries for 63 yards with a long of 16. Strangely, that’s exactly what he had at Mizzou last weekend.

He hasn’t earned the right to be cantankerous with the media. Hopefully there will be a time for that but now now. What I saw from our OL Saturday night was pathetic run blocking for a line, mind you, that was predicted to be one of the best in the conference.

Perhaps someone should email him your stat because he could sure use a reminder, apparently.

It’s kind of silly to compare this to any other situation where reporters are interviewing millionaires. For one thing, I don’t even understand why how much he gets paid has anything to do with it. He was either being “extremely testy” (your words) or he wasn’t. And he wasn’t in the OL exchange. It wasn’t even close to testy if you actually watch the video. He, in fact, appeared and sounded quite cordial.

Nah not testy. Maybe a little pop quizzy. But not testy. Kinda dickish to rub in the 12 minute viewing period the media has by mentioning all the stuff they aren’t allowed to see, but I don’t care. Now that Eason question, you are right, THAT was testy….

I think it’s kind of extreme to say he’s “shutting out the fanbase and the media.”

I say let the man run the program how he wants and maybe he’ll have some success. Don’t hamstring him into doing what you think he should do and only reward him with the freedom to run the program the way he wants after he’s successful. That doesn’t even make sense.

I think he answered the OL question respectfully. And that’s what we’re discussing here. The Eason media availability? Again I’ll grant that that was bordering on “testy”. But if you watch the OL exchange I don’t think there’s a hint of disrespect or condescension on Kirby’s part. It’s more disbelief. Like, “are you really asking me whether we’ve considered switching the guys around?”

I don’t know. I get it. Media comes with the well-paying job, but the question (like many of them) is actually a pretty accusatory question. He’s basically hinting that maybe there’s an idea the coaches haven’t thought of yet. What’s Kirby supposed to say, “Gosh, that’s a great idea. We hadn’t thought of playing other guys or putting the guys in different positions. You got any ideas about kickers?” The coaches have thought of everything.

But, if you listen closely to the way Kirby talks, he’s very, very, very supportive of his players. Richt might have answered that question like this, “Yeah, we’ve thought of that and we might try that this week a little more. We think we’ve got the right guys there but there might be some mixing it up some in practice.” Seems pretty simple. But, what that’s really saying is this: we’re not sure we made the right personnel decisions and we don’t really have confidence in the guys we put there.” Kirby’s tone is much different. It speaks, “We know what we’re doing, we’ve got the best kids we’ve got in the best positions and we believe in them.”

It’s like his answer about Greyson the other night. He sees a much bigger picture than the media sees. To Kirby, the guy that gives the team the right look on the scout team is just as important as the superstar.

We wanted detail. We got it. It doesn’t always taste good going down.

Being nice and winning 10 games will get you fired around these parts. The mission is to regularly get to 11 and 12 and be in the hunt. Ain’t got time for nice or accommodating every reporter.

Yeah, he’s got his players’ backs, except that I’m sure a college graduate like Tyler Catalina is smart enough to notice that it was Kirby Smart and not a reporter who spoke aloud the idea of benching Catalina for Wynn. The reporter simply asked if any thought had been given to trying some different combinations on the line without naming a single player. 100% fair question. The answer should have been, “we’ve got the best group of guys in there and we believe in them. There’s room for improvement in the way that we’ve performed as an offensive line, and we’ll get back to work today.” If Kirby Smart thinks that he’s working against an adversarial media, then he’s in for a shock if he ever coaches somewhere that actually has sports reporters with fangs.

The reporter didnt even start there…Kirby took him there. The reporter asked about a change in scheme w/r/t run blocking.

It could have been an easy time to get into maybe a little X’s and O’ give the guy a couple of things to write about and move on. Instead Smart decided to make it about how the last guy left him with a giant shit sandwich and smart is going to make sure everyone takes a bite.

Full disclosure: I used to be a member of the sports media. I think that plays a part in how badly I hate the way coaches like Nick Saban and now our very own Kirby Smart handle the media.

However, I’m also a human being and I despise seeing someone treat anyone with naked disrespect, whether it’s someone being an asshole to a server in a restaurant or just being a jerk to a cashier. I think that plays a much bigger role in the fact that I loathe watching Kirby’s press conferences. These men and women have a job to do. Treat them with some respect. Don’t speak to them like they’re dogs who just took a dump on your carpet. It’s basic decency. It also might just be good for self-preservation one day.

I’m a Dawg fan and I love Kirby, but this kind of behavior gives me second thoughts. With the exception of a little pushback on the freshman interview policy and the open records thing, Kirby has not been subjected to anything more than softball questions. Heaven forbid the media ever stop playing nice. I’m never going to be like one of these Alabama fans where I say, “he’s a dick, but he’s OUR dick.” How about just not being a dick?

You’ve got to quit with this bullshit about the roster that Kirby inherited. There is plenty of talent there. I’ve been amazed that Kublanow has not been sat down and someone else given a chance to try their hand at center. Our line isn’t playing well but there is talent on the bench and field. Stop with the “Kirby didn’t inherit SEC material” thats bullshit.

If we ever have an OL affiliated with Rhode Island I want it to be b/c we got some kid that’s so damn huge and plays so well that we can put him on an island with no help and his last name is Rhodes. I’m picturing a guy like big Max Jean-Gilles or something.

We don’t have any FR listed in our 2 deep. Many other SEC teams, including Bama, Ark, FL, TN are either starting or have FR in their 2 deep. Yes, the cupboard may have been bare, but whoever the coaching staff was going to be, the need to recruit talent to use immediately in the 2016 class and coaching-up the talent on hand were always going to be part of the job description. Just like it is for the rest of the SEC.

Dude, all you did was go down the roster and list all O-linemen. Jurkovich is no longer on the team (med DQ). Fogarty, Gothard, Seward, Swilley, and Williams are walk-ons and will never see meaningful action. Allen, Hardin, and Madden are RS Fr who who have made so little impact that they didn’t even make the travel roster and will be recruited over. The 2015 OL class is looking like a flop. Expect a couple of them to be encouraged to find another place to play this offseason. Bynum is RS Jr who was so light last year that he was given no. 41 and used as a blocking TE. Cleveland and Barnes are being redshirted, so there is still potential there. Kindley looks like a real sleeper that Pittman found late. It’s kind of scary that the only linemen who traveled to MO were the starting five, plus Sims, Kindley, Baker, and Bynum. This team had absolutely zero SEC-ready tackles, so a guard had to move out and a transfer from Rhode freaking Island was brought in to start. From a talent standpoint, the scholarship OL group, from top to bottom, is among the bottom third in the conference.

As far as run blocking goes, I expect to see more sweeps, traps, and counters from this group.

They don’t have the size to consistently mow people down drive blocking one-on-one, but they do appear to be better at pulling and moving down the line. Our rushing TDs so far have come from these types of plays.

Let’s see how well they adjust to the personnel they have, rather than the personnel they want.

This has been my biggest criticism so far with the coaches. It is obvious to anyone that the middle of the line is being blown up on a regular basis. At least when you run a toss sweep you don’t have to jump over Kubs, who is falling backwards into your lap on an off tackle run.

You guys are right, from what I can tell. Kublanow got put on skates a lot trying to drive block straight ahead. But watch him on Sony’s first carry on the last possession. He pulls around the right side and absolutely annihilates a Mizzou defender.

On the other hand, I saw several loaf plays from Catalina on the broadcast. But did anyone notice how many loaf plays the Mizzou WRs had? Maybe they’re out of condition to run tempo, but as my friend pointed out, there were plays when the WRs on the backside wouldn’t even run routes after the snap. Just standing there. No attempt at decoy. Just zero effort.

Some of that from the WRs may be by design. Baylor did a lot of that on deep passes where there was only one true option for the QB and the others were half-assed set dressing (the idea being they wouldn’t get as tired when the team’s trying to run 90+ snaps/game.)

One the thing always constant with the girly-boy sports writers and commentators, they always are underpaid coaches.
Just ask them. They know what the problems are. And not 2% have ever played a down in their life.
The girly-boys are a most sensitive lot. Maybe they should have their own restrooms and seating area for awhile.
Frankly, I have enjoyed how the coaching staff thru three games have changed the schemes and alignments to get production and generate three wins.
Now an adult would think those girly-boys could tighten their panties and move to other things than the O line. They would want you to believe these kids are not trying and neither are the coaches. Just maybe they need to go back and break down each play and see the alignments and personnel.
For some reason I think this team can and will run the ball. The coaches have certainly changed the playbook…use of the FB and slot receiver.
Maybe these girly-boys need to go to Oxford and talk to the Ole Miss coaching staff for awhile. Their take on the O line could be a tad different, and perhaps their girly ears can take that tone.

Nice guy. 10 wins. That’ll get you fired. If I had that job, the last thing I’d be worried about is being nice. I’d be worried about consistently winning 11 and 12. If you watch the video, it’s much ado about nothing. The press conference is a nuisance to Kirby, and I like that. Win the games, not the press.

Because if you’re nice, but only win 10, they’ll still write articles about how your time is probably up. I’m a Grady grad, but I don’t have sympathy. They have a job, but that job’s not to help you. Mark Richt was as fine a man as one could ever be to the press and as open an any modern day football coach, and nearly everyone in that room essentially called for his head because 10 games wasn’t enough. Everyone in that room criticized nearly every decision in the last 2 years the nicest coach in America made. Would good comes from being nice, if you’re in Kirby’s seat? That’s just the reality. Salty press conferences don’t matter on Saturdays. They don’t matter in Tuscaloosa. They don’t matter in Columbus. They don’t matter in Ann Arbor. The scoreboard matters.

I liked your first post in this series, also, but this is IT. Has any coach ever been kept because he conducted genteel press conferences? Ever? I don’t want to see outright paranoid hostility a la Booch “taking names”, but Kirby wasn’t hostile like that and also I like that Kirby doesn’t throw players under the bus when perhaps he is being baited to do just that.

I have a feeling Richt would have gotten far fewer than those fifteen years if he had treated the press and the fan/donor/alumni base the way Kirby has thus far.

On the other hand, there are only two donors who matter, and those are the guys who put Kirby in place; I assume they have unfettered access and are fine with his handling of the press (and, by proxy, the rest of the fans/alumni).

Please don’t lump me in as insulted by ‘proxy’ of Kirby’s handling of the press. I doubt there are many fans or alumni who feel that his handling of the press is an insult to them even if it could be better. That may be the silliest analogy I’ve ever heard, and I would still be getting the paper if they would deliver it here.

Yes. I’m not offended at all. And I don’t hear any fans saying, “Man, I can’t stand it that we can’t hear from Eason.” I like see Eason throw touchdowns. I could care less about him talking to the media.

Kirby is better with the lettermen, including more access, and I think he’s more forthright in a lot of his answers than Richt. Kirby is all about the fans. The media ain’t fans.

What I mean by that is that the beat writers and other media members who are allowed to ask Kirby questions (and are then generally treated like idiots as a reward) are the only means by which the fans’ questions MIGHT get answered. The reporters are allowed to at least occupy the same space as/speak to Kirby and some of the players, while the rest of us are not.

That’s what sportswriters’ main job is: to act as the voice of the audience, and to attempt to ask the questions most of us discuss aimlessly amongst ourselves for lack of the opportunity to present them to the only people capable of answering them.

IMO, CMR wasn’t fired for winning 10 games; he was fired for winning an average of 9.1 games yearly over his final 7 seasons, with an absolutely pathetic winning % against ranked opponents (I believe in the low 30’s.

But he averaged 10 his last 2 (albeit he didn’t win the 10th in 2015 in the bowl, but he most assuredly would have).

Nice guy. 10 games. 3 yr drought with no division titles. All that includes a massive NCAA screw-job of your best player in a season you most likely would have won the division, and an injury for the last half of the season to a heisman front-runner in another season. Didn’t matter.

That’s the standard we set from day one. Mind you, I’m down with it. I loved Richt but also believe in Kirby. But we set the standard from day one. It would keep me up at night if I were the coach.

The guy asked if they “thought” about changing things up. He essentially said they “think” about it constantly and have been since camp opened. He also said that they “think” other combos are actually less effective.

Frankly, I like direct, substantive answers than just a “well you know we gotta get “buttah.” Or a “you know we’ll look at that.” Why be weak and mealy mouthed? Say what you mean and mean what you say.

The worst thing about the answer I thought was that he teetered on the line of saying that the problem last year and this year is the players. Its probably true, but no reason to say it IMHO.

And you know, I seem to remember that, despite losing Chubb, we seem to have had a decent running game last year, even with them there bad coaches we fired and some of the same players we got this year.

They also lost 2 senior starting tackles and played a very weak schedule. Against the defenses with teeth, the OP got punted last year too. I think that’s the point he’s trying to convey without throwing the players under the bus.

Chubb was averaging 150 yards per game until UT last year. Even against tomato cans that is an impressive number. With 3 returning starters he is under 100 yards for the second week in a row. Theus and Houston were not all SEC tackles so you want to come up with another excuse?

Theus was in fact a first team all-SEC tackle last year.
Even if he wasn’t, I feel comfortable that Theus + Houston > RI grad transfer + a guard playing tackle.
Because Pike is having to play tackle, that means he can’t play guard, where he’s better suited.
Therefore, right off the bat, we are worse at 3/5 of the OL positions from last year.
Not sure if you’re aware, but Chubb had a small knee injury last year. The fact that he’s back to level he is at now is simply astounding, but it’s not unfair to question whether maybe he’s a step slower and if maybe we ran him too much against UNC.

I think the OL can play better. I think they need to pull and move more because they can’t push anyone back. I also think gettin Sony more carries will help Chubb and the running game as a whole.

I think Wynn is a better tackle than Catalina. He showed that in limited work at the position last year. Move Pyke back to RG and put Catalina at RT. Put Galliard at C and get Kublanow off the field or leave him at C and get Galliard off the field. Seriously, something else has to work better than what we are seeing.

This would be one of those areas where I would like some information from Kirby. I, too, am surprised Wynn is not at left tackle. I have noticed him come of games twice with ‘injuries’ – and it may be more, that’s just what I can remember – and I wonder if he has a nagging problem that keeps from him playing LT. I will say this though: I don’t think LT has that much to do with the run game because you can run to the other side, but we are not even getting that done right now. The biggest thing is you have to keep someone back to help a weak LT and that is one less leading block on a sweep. I dunno; I don’t get the big bucks.

I get all the angst about the OL, it’s painful to watch. But we are playing teams with equal or less OL recruiting so far. At this point, I don’t understand why our OL seems worse than so many other teams.

No Derek. You’ve been thoughtful lately. You were bigmouth jackass who got off on the sight of his words on a screen. The fact that other people could see that and you could t doesn’t make them idiots. No matter how much you may want to believe that. The posts lately have been good though.

I don’t have a problem with this approach at all. If you do, maybe you need to give your red panties to Damon?
Look where being a nice guy gets you with the media…
Beat Ole Miss and to hell with the rest of this nonsense.

I don’t think the reporter’s question about changing things up was loaded at all, but it is a recurring theme. I think Kirby has a newcomer’s impatience with reporters. If he wins like Saban he can treat them with impatience. If he doesn’t he has to be nicer or suffer.

Although I doubt he’ll suffer much in the short term, given the forcefield he’s provided by our real athletic directors, the pair of liquor distributors who placed him in his current job. He’s their boy (at least for now).

Gong back to the “ask better questions, get better answers” line about BB above, I’d love to see someone asking about runs up the middle vs outside runs, and the potential predictability of running out of certain formations. Eason throwing over 50x was a nice sign that they won’t go full Muschamp on the “we have to be tough/run the ball” when it isn’t working, but I’d love to see a return to some of the varied outside runs from the UNC game, and why they weren’t used much vs. Mizzou.

The press is trying to get Kirby to say something that can become a sound byte. Kirby really doesn’t want to be publicly critical of his players. If he slips up and says “the current OL talent we have just isn’t good enough to compete in this league” it’ll be the end of our season, team will be lost.

Also, I grant him the benefit of the doubt right now. He really doesn’t want to give the impression that he is likely swimming in his head as much as Eason is right now. Let’s face it, Kirby has a lot on his plate. He knows what needs to be done, knows what he wants to do, knows reams of info that he wants to use but he simply can’t get to it all due to time. He needs to go through his first year and get himself grounded into his routine. Right now he is just 24/7 trying to tackle everything he can think of.

So Kirby, in his infinite wisdom and all those years at the hand of the master, thought to himself, Hey I’ve got a lot going on why not spend some time picking fights with the media. You know those guys with out a lot going on who get paid to fill pages. That’s what I should do.

How can yall not see what bullshit this is? As has been stated already, what good did being nice to the media do Richt? They sniped at him from day one despite how nice he was. I remember a Jeff Schultz write up about Richt that was really over the line in how much joy he was taking in treating Richt as his whipping boy and it was after a win. Screw these guys. They treated Richt like shit despite his patience toward them. I wish Terrence Moore was still around to get some of this.

Bingo. They’re not your friend. They say they have a job to do. Then do it. Call Eason’s dad and high school coach. Talk to his girlfriend. Whatever. There’s a million ways to write a story about “The Kid.”

This is a distraction, and it’s meant to be. Kirby didn’t think a thing about it the minute he stepped away from that podium. Chip thought about it all day. Lord, it’s the season. Can’t we talk about the games?!

5 turnovers by Mizzou and it takes a last second drive to win the game? Anybody that thinks this Georgia team is anything but mediocre didn’t watch Ohio State, Alabama, or Louisville. We may win the East but that ain’t saying much. We have big time issues on offense, defense, and especially on special teams. Two scholarship kickers and Ham is better than Blankenship? Really? Mckenzie is too small to last the season and other than our defensive tackles, no size to speak of on the line. We just aren’t physical. Finesse will only get you so far. You know, I know, and the American people know it. We gotta do a better job of doing a better job or we lose by 21+ to Ole Miss.

I understand Kirby’s frustration with the media, but I still think he could handle it better. As I’m sure it’s been stated above, everyone knows the policy on Freshmen not speaking to the media, so it was kind of silly for the reporter to even ask about talking to Eason. However, Kirby could have simply said, “Well that’s our policy regardless of what position you play or how you perform in a game.” instead of “What year is he in school? Right, he’s a Freshman and that’s why he doesn’t speak to the media” (paraphrasing).

Same thing goes for the question on the o-line. Have you thought about shuffling people around? Of course they have thought about that. But he could’ve easily provided the same information as he did, minus the snark.

BUT, if the worst thing you could say about the guy is about how he handles the media, then I think he’ll be alright.

I had something of a suspicion Saturday night that Chubb might have had more yards after contact than yards from scrimmage against Missouri. That stat about getting hit in the backfield 2/3’s of the time makes that all the more likely, but I haven’t actually seen that stat anywhere.